| Photo: Reproduction/Instagram |
India’s Paralympic journey began at the 1968 Tel Aviv Games, with success growing steadily since swimmer Murlikant Petkar won India’s first gold medal in 1972. Now, 52 years later, India heads to Paris 2024 in search of its best Paralympic performance of all time.
India’s rise in the Paralympic Games is a story of patience and perseverance. After Petkar’s historic gold in Heidelberg, it took India 12 years to return to the Paralympic podium at Innsbruck 1984, where the country won two silver and two bronze medals in para athletics. However, the wait for another gold lasted two decades until Devendra Jhajharia won gold in javelin throw, and Rajinder Singh won bronze in weightlifting at Athens 2004.
Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 were the Games that really put India on the Paralympic map. Nineteen athletes from five sports travelled to Brazil in 2016, almost double the number of competitors at London 2012, and brought home three Paralympic athletics medals. Jhajharia secured his second gold in the javelin throw, while Mariyappan Thangavelu won gold in the high jump. Deepa Malik made history as the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic medal with a silver in the shot put.
At Tokyo 2020, India sent its largest delegation with 54 athletes competing across nine sports, leading to unprecedented success. In Paralympic shooting, Avani Lekhara became the first Indian to win two Paralympic medals at the same Olympics, winning gold in the women’s 10m SH1 air rifle event and bronze in the women’s 3 positions SH1 50m air rifle event. Thangavelu and Jhajharia both added silver medals to their previous golds, taking India’s tally to a record 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze.
Jaywant Hammanevar, Secretary General of the Indian Paralympic Committee, attributes this recent surge in success to government initiatives supporting talented athletes. “With the support of our Prime Minister, the Hon’ble Narendra Modi, the Paralympic movement in India is growing at a tremendous pace,” Hammanevar explains.
“Under this leadership, the government has launched a state-of-the-art Olympic Podium Scheme that provides special support to medal candidates training for the Asian Para Games and the Paralympic Games. This scheme has played a key role in the growth in medal depth that India has seen in the last decade.
India’s Paralympic athletes are approaching Paris 2024 with enthusiasm. At the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Paralympic Games held in October 2023, 303 Indian athletes competed across 17 sports and won a record 111 medals – the highest ever medal haul by India at an international multi-sport event. Three Indian athletes set world records in Hangzhou: Gurjar Sunder Singh in the F46 javelin throw event with a 68.6m throw, Sumit Antil in the F64 javelin throw event with a 73.29m throw, and the men’s archery team compound para world record of 158 points.
Lekhara continued her dominance in para shooting with a gold medal in the SH1 standing 10m air rifle, while Indian athletes won medals in various sports such as para canoeing, para badminton and para weightlifting. The positive momentum carried forward at the Para World Athletics Championships in Kobe earlier this year, where Simran won a gold medal in the women’s 200m T12 final along with several other medals.
All these achievements have set the stage for a strong Indian contingent at Paris 2024, which is expected to include around 35 athletes across 12 sports who will aim to finish on the podium in various events. “We have set our sights high for the next few years with a target of 25 to 30 medals, which will be our highest ever medal count,” says Hammanavar.
“Our athletes are working hard and are ready to make us proud. We have high expectations in many events, especially in Paralympic archery, Paralympic athletics and Paralympic shooting. Our athletes have demonstrated incredible skill and determination in their sports, and we are confident that we will shine on the world stage.”
“Our ultimate goal is to finish in the top five among all participating countries. We know this is ambitious, but with the hard work and dedication of the team, we believe it is within our reach.”
